KeanuReview

Keanu was screened as a work-in-progress early preview at the SXSW Film Festival.

Comedy duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele play a pair of cousins who get caught up in crime as they try to recover a stolen cat in the hilarious new action-comedy Keanu. One doesn't have to be familiar with Key & Peele to enjoy Keanu, but having a soft spot for adorable kittens helps because -- oh my God, look at that cute little face!

After getting dumped by his girlfriend, the heartbroken Rell (Peele) spends his days sobbing in a pot-induced haze. Even his best pal and cousin, the straight-laced, suburban dad Clarence (Key), can't seem to snap him out of it. Then salvation shows up at Rell's doorstep in the form of a stray kitten. Instantly smitten, Rell takes in the kitty, names him Keanu (we learn Rell's a movie buff), and finds new meaning and happiness thanks to this little fur ball.

Then one night Rell and Clarence return to Rell's apartment to find it ransacked and Keanu missing. He's been catnapped by criminals. We learn Keanu belonged to a drug dealer before he fatefully wandered off and ended up at Rell's door, and now Rell is hellbent (Rellbent?) on getting his little pal back -- even if it means passing himself off a hardcore gangsta to do it.

Posing as criminals gets Rell and Clarence a lot more than they bargain for as the Blips -- the street gang they seek out looking to get back Keanu -- mistake them for the Allentown Boys, a chilling pair of gangland assassins of near-mythic status. Lots of bluffing, bullets, and hilarity ensue as Rell and Clarence's ruse gets them in way over their heads.

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You care about these two characters, believe they'd stick their necks out for each other, and you want to see them win. If you're an existing Key & Peele fan, great. But you don't even have to know who they are to understand or enjoy Keanu. This story and their performances will make you fans of them if you weren't already.

Peele's Rell is the main character, but it's Key's Clarence who undergoes the most demonstrative change. A straight-laced family man who works as a team-building HR rep and offers to take his teenage daughter to Shailene Woodley's new movie, Clarence is as buttoned-up a fella as you can find.

Clarence will have both his safety and lifestyle choices repeatedly challenged during the course of this one crazy night. He's a better "Will Ferrell character" than most of the ones Will Ferrell's had the chance to play recently.

Rell is more the voice of reason and conscience here. He starts as the pothead who thrusts them into danger in order to get his cat back, but he becomes dismayed by the criminal life. It's his utter love and devotion to Keanu that propels the plot and makes viewers forgive whatever lapses in judgment he often has. After all, that is one damn cute, vulnerable cat and, by God, you want them to get it home safe and sound. (This little scene-stealer is basically the Anti-One Ring in that everyone who comes into contact with it is changed for the better.)

Although Key & Peele's protagonists rightfully receive the most development and attention, the film does strive to give some definition to the gang members they encounter (including Straight Outta Compton's Jason Mitchell as Bud). While Blips leader Cheddar (Method Man) may be fond of Keanu, he remains the closest thing to a straight-up villain here.

However, his underlings, though violent, remain likable, their pasts defining why they broke bad (expect lots of jokes about family members stabbing each other). These supporting characters' best moments happen during the scene where Clarence indoctrinates them into his George Michael fandom, desperately spinning it in a way to make the "Faith" singer seem absolutely badass.

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The supporting cast also includes a notable turn by Will Forte as Rell's pot dealer, Tiffany Haddish as the Blips' fearsome female member Hi-C, Nia Long as Clarence's wife, Rob Huebel as Clarence's neighbor and pal, and the one and only Luis Guzman.

My biggest complaint with Keanu is that it suffers from Multiple Endings Syndrome. Just when you think it's over, it offers up yet another over-the-top, action set-piece. While each of these sequences has a narrative justification, at a certain point -- no matter how fun these sequences are -- it all simply becomes exhausting. The viewer has already reached an emotional crescendo the first one or two times it seemed like the story had reached its conclusion. By the fourth one it's overkill.

Keanu

Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key team up after Key & Peele to tell the tale of a broken-hearted man whose life greatly improves when an adorable kitten arrives at his doorstep... until a gang steals the kitten away.

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The Verdict

Key & Peele fans may already be sold on Keanu, but filmgoers unfamiliar with them will nevertheless find Keanu a hilarious, character-driven action-comedy full of heart and fun. And if you don't find that kitten worth venturing into the underworld to save, you need help!